


21 Ways to Say I Love You

by Theyna_Shipper



Series: Star Wars One-Shots [37]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Adoption, But mostly fluff, Devoted Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Drabbles, Established Relationship, F/M, Feminist Ben Solo, Fluff, Fragmented Narrative, Happily Ever After, I Love You, Infertility, Inspired By Tumblr, Light Angst, Protective Ben Solo, Who needs therapy when you have fanfiction?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-14
Updated: 2020-12-14
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:07:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28062156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Theyna_Shipper/pseuds/Theyna_Shipper
Summary: Over a beer bottle. While baking chocolate chip cookies. Loud, so everyone can hear. A whisper in the ear. When the broken glass litters the floor.Ben and Rey's relationship, as shown through all the times they've said "I love you."
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Series: Star Wars One-Shots [37]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1637683
Comments: 9
Kudos: 52





	21 Ways to Say I Love You

**Author's Note:**

> Inspiration: https://br.pinterest.com/pin/780952391631148353/
> 
> I wrote this because Pinterest algorithms messed up and gave me a bunch of anti-Reylo posts. I had just gotten out of a depressive slump and those sent me back down while I was still in a fragile state, so I wrote myself a fluff piece to cheer myself up. 
> 
> Originally was going to post this under my Wasting Time On Pinterest collection but it was kind of longer and I liked it enough to be a separate work so here ya go. 
> 
> Shout out to my amazing beta, @gargammella. I love you, bastard babe buddy bones. 
> 
> Check end notes for content warnings.

_As a hello_

Ben meets Rey in baggage claim. She’s dragging a duffel and has bags under her eyes from a long international flight, but her eyes immediately light up when she sees him. She runs up to him and he takes her in his arms, and tells her what he meant to tell her when she left all those months ago. 

“I love you.”

“Well, hello to you too, Ben.” 

_With a hoarse voice, under the blankets_

“I love you,” Rey gasps, collapsing onto his chest. 

Ben nuzzles her hair. “I missed you so much,” he whispers, gently rubbing her back. 

“We should have done this much sooner,” she laughs weakly. 

“Well then, sweetheart, I guess we’ll just have to make up for lost time.” 

_A scream_

Rey has finally convinced Ben to perform one of the songs he’s written at an open mic night. He’s been writing music for years but never showed it to anyone but Rey– she’s insisted it’s too beautiful to be kept a secret. 

The room is momentarily silent, But Rey immediately jumps up and starts clapping, and the rest of the room claps politely.

“I love you!” Rey shrieks, as if they were in a crowded concert hall, and as flustered as he is, Ben can’t help smiling as he steps off the stage. 

_Over a cup of tea_

“This is so boring,” Rey whispers. “A chari- _tea_ lunch? That’s so cheesy.”

“It’s for the schools,” he whispers back. “And I lured you here with free food.”

“You didn’t tell me it would be a _tea_ ,” Rey sighs. “So elitist.”

Ben just slides her a tray of alphabet cookies, knowing Rey won’t be able to resist sweet food no matter how childish or elitist. He attempts to listen to what is going on, and a few minutes later Rey taps him on the arm. 

She’s arranged the alphabet cookies on her tea saucer to spell out _I luv u._

Ben takes another cookie and turns the saucer back to Rey so she can read. _I luv u 2._

_Over a beer bottle_

Ben doesn’t like bars. Going into one has always felt wrong ever since his father’s was driven out of business, and drunk people make him sad. But he’ll do anything for Rey, including pick her up from an after-work pool game at the bar near their house. 

Judging by her opponent’s face, she’s probably winning. 

“What’ll it be?” the bartender, a tall blonde woman, asks. 

“Whatever Rey likes for her, and something virgin and ridiculously sweet for me.”

“Sounds like the girls I dated in high school,” the woman jokes. “You must be Ben. Rey talks about you all the time.”

“Guilty as charged.” 

“Why haven’t we seen you here before?” She passes a beer over for Rey, and starts mixing some mocktail for him. 

“Finn usually drives her home.”

“You’re okay with that? Her spending all night with other guys and them driving her home?”

He shrugs. “I have nothing to prove. Neither does she. If she didn’t want to be with me anymore she’d tell me. If she wants to be friends with these guys, then she should.” He takes his drink from her hands. 

She looks surprised by this– probably gets a lot of jealous guys here, he realizes. Well, at least he and Rey have it all figured out. 

“I’m going to win us forty dollars for the new-couch fund,” Rey tells him when he approaches. Each of her, Finn, Poe, Rose, and Hux have contributed ten dollars to the pool.

Ben kisses her on the nose and hands her the beer. “I love you.” 

_On a sunny Tuesday afternoon, the late sunlight glowing in your hair_

Rey is leaning her head slightly out the car window when he sees her, _Jackie and Wilson_ playing on the radio, the sunlight filtering through her hair. 

“Thanks for picking me up.”

Rey leans across and opens the passenger’s door for him. “I’m sorry the interview didn’t work out.” 

“It’s okay,” Ben says. “Really. I’ll find something.” He leans back in his seat while Rey reaches for the ignition. He looks defeated– he took being laid off surprisingly well, but he hasn’t been quite the same lately. 

“Ben?” Rey says, her hand stopping on the keys. 

“Yes?”

“I’m still proud of you. No matter what. You know that, right?” 

Ben studies her for a moment, before smiling softly. “I love you.” 

_As a thank-you_

“Happy birthday.” 

Rey gasps softly when she sees the earrings in the gift box. “Ben–”

“They’re the butterfly earrings you lost when you were in eighth grade, right? They fell off on a bus on a field trip and you never saw again.” 

“But how did you find a pair? They were a limited edition to go with a movie–”

“I had to hunt them down on eBay. There was a girl selling a bunch of 90s collectibles. But it was worth it.”

“I love them,” Rey says. “I love you.”

_As an apology_

Rey slams the door of the restaurant behind her as she storms away. 

“Rey, wait!” Ben follows her out of the restaurant as fast as he can. 

“I don’t want to talk to you,” Rey shouts. 

“Rey, please,” he begs. “We can work this out.” 

She wipes tears out of her eyes as she walks. “I thought you were taking this as seriously as I was. I guess I was wrong.” 

“I am, Rey,” he insists. “When she asked that–” when they were getting married, that was what Maz asked– “I just panicked. I mean, we’ve got so much time ahead of us. And… I just… I love you so much, Rey. I don’t want to make you feel pressured, because I… I just... I love you, Rey.” 

Rey stops in her tracks, the sodium vapor glow of the street lamp illuminating her tear-streaked face. “I love you,” she echoes. “I love you too, Ben.”

_When baking chocolate chip cookies_

“Are you sure that’s enough chocolate chips?”

“If you hadn’t _eaten_ so many, we might have more,” Ben sighs. 

“We have a whole bag left in the fridge,” Rey replies. “I can eat as many chocolate chip cookies as I want. And so can you,” she adds as she sets one on his tongue. 

Ben bounds down to kiss her chocolatey lips, forgetting about the chips in the batter for the time being. 

“I love you,” they whisper together. 

_Not said to me_

“Bye, have a great day at work!” Rey shouts from the bedroom, rushing to say good-bye before he leaves. He’s finally found a job at a tech startup, helping them with marketing and the like, and generally being the only non-tech person there. He was worried about the instability, but Rey assured him that between both their jobs they would be fine. 

“See you tonight.” Ben kisses her on the forehead. “Wish me luck.”

“Good luck,” she says. “I know you’ll do great.”  
“I hope so,” he says as the door closes. 

Rey sees him leave a minute later out the apartment window. He won’t hear or see her anymore, but she says it nonetheless. 

“I love you.” 

_With a shuddering gasp_

“Poor Ben,” Rey croons, running her hands through his hair. 

Ben sighs weakly. Laryngitis has really knocked him out, leaving him tired and quiet, and breathing heavily, while Rey makes him tea and soup and sends people over to check on him while she’s at work. 

“Do you need anything?” 

He shakes his head. 

“Ok, I’ll let you sleep, sweetheart,” she whispers, getting up off the couch. 

Ben grabs her hand as she leaves, not wanting her to leave. 

“I’ll stay, then,” she chuckles. 

“I love you,” Ben manages, between heavy breaths as he falls asleep.

_When we lay together on the fresh spring grass_

“Don’t move but you have a ladybug on your nose,” Rey laughs. 

Ben moves in surprise, and the ladybug flies away, while Rey shakes her head, still giggling. 

The fresh grass outside their first house is soft underneath their bodies, though they’ll be replacing it with local flora as soon as it can. Rey taps the tip of his nose where the ladybug was, before pressing a sweet kiss there. 

“I love you.”

_In a letter_

Ben has tragically little time to call Rey while he is in Seattle, but he manages to scrawl a postcard for her: 

_Rey,_

_I’m sorry you couldn’t be here with me, but I promise you I’ll bring you here as soon as the company gets bought. You’d love it here. I want to see the city sometime when I don’t have to miss you, when you’re here with me._

_I love you,  
Ben_

When Rey gets it, she keeps it in her nightstand until it falls apart. 

_A whisper in the ear_

Ben bends over to kiss her delicately behind the ear. She leans happily into him, but he just whispers, “When can we leave?” 

“Aren’t you having fun? It’s your party.”

“It’s the company’s party, and I want to go home,” he whines softly. 

“Another half hour? I want to try that cake,” she suggests. “After that,” she adds mischievously, “I’ll make the wait worth it.”

While Ben chokes on his own words, Rey leans over to whisper in his ear, “I love you.”

_Loud, so everyone can hear_

Ben once said he’d kill anyone who made Rey cry. 

Rey said she’d rather just have a hug. 

But when he sees Rey clinging to a wall and looking more than anything like she wants to cry, the old instinct is revived. 

He doesn’t ask his uncle what happened or what he said to Rey, just leads her a little away and pulls her close. 

Then, just to make sure there’s no doubt as to what Rey means, or what he’d do if they forgot this, he tells her loud enough for all to hear, “I love you.”

_Over and over again, till it’s nothing but a senseless babble_

Ben’s face is swollen and mottled with bruises, a huge jagged cut (certain to scar) splitting his face down the middle, a half a dozen other smaller gashes closed only with stitches. 

Rey has been sitting next to his hospital bed for over an hour now, and two hours more waiting outside while he was in surgery. 

Everything has been a blur since the truck barreled around the corner with no warning, since Ben jumped in front of it to throw her out of the way, since she heard a sickening squeal of tires as he was thrown onto the asphalt several feet away. The sickening feeling of, _Oh god, what if he didn’t make it what if he’s dead what if he’s dead_ is still not entirely gone from her. 

Slowly, Ben opens one eye, and murmurs, “Rey?”

She gasps with stunned relief to hear his voice and throws her arms around his neck. “I love you,” she sobs. 

“Rey–”

“I love you,” she repeats, burying her head against his chest. “I love you, I love you, I love you I love you I love you IloveyouIloveyouIloveyou…”

_When the broken glass litters the floor_

When the glass she was washing slips from her hands and shatters on the kitchen floor, that’s when she can’t take it anymore. For some reason, that’s the thing that finally breaks her. 

Yesterday she and Ben went to pick up the results of some tests they’d had done at a fertility specialist. Rey had been trying to get pregnant for a few months, ever since the car accident, which made them realize that one way or another, they don’t have forever. But they’ve had no success, so they finally decided to see someone. 

Yesterday she got the news that she would never be able to have children of her own. 

And god but she’s tried to be strong, tried to take this well, but when that glass breaks she can’t anymore, and breaks down crying in the middle of the kitchen. 

Ben doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t clean up the mess or ask her to move or get another glass. He just steps around the glass and holds her close, and as he runs his hands through her hair, he repeats to her: 

“I love you.” 

_From very far away_

After weeks of discussing and deliberating and debating they have finally decided to adopt. They’re ready to start a family, they’ve decided, and to give home to someone who doesn’t have one. They’re ready to start the long process and to get their home ready for a child. 

But, just to take advantage of their last few months as just the two of them, as a baby-moon of a sort, they’re going on a road trip down the coast, and enjoying every second of the scenery and of each other. 

“Go out to that rock,” Rey tells Ben, pointing at a large formation on the beach. “I want to take a picture of you.”

“I can’t stay here with you?”

“It will look nice. Just one picture.”

Ben sighs melodramatically and treks out to the rock, taking his place among the kelp and seagulls for Rey’s photo. When she is done, he blows a kiss and starts to walk back. 

Watching him, knowing she can’t hear him if she’s not shouting, she still says “I love you” into the sea air. 

_With no space between us_

After weeks and months of interviews, background checks, trips to city hall and state capital and every other administrative office they can think of, they’ve been approved for an adoption. A two-year-old girl from Delaware named Eileen. 

Tomorrow, they’ll be meeting her and taking her to their hotel. The next day, taking her back to San Francisco with them. 

Nervous is an understatement for what they’re feeling. So is ecstatic. 

Leaning right up next to her before they get out of the car, Ben pulls her in for a kiss, and while she can still feel his lips on hers, he whispers, “I love you.”

_As we huddle together, the storm raging outside_

They quickly learn that Eileen doesn’t like thunderstorms. She does like warm blankets, Barbie movies, and strawberry milk. 

So while thunder and lightning crack and flash outside, the three of them stay huddled under their blankets with cookies, milk, and _Rapunzel._ Eileen is happily squished between her parents, and Rey is resting her head contentedly on Ben’s shoulder. 

“I love you,” Rey says contentedly. “Both of you.”

“I love you too,” he replies. 

And when Eileen looks up and repeats it back to them, well, they know everything is going to be just fine. 

_Over your shoulder_

The wedding is small but beautiful, outside in a rose garden, just a few friends and family. Ben proposed in spring in the same garden, and they’re married at the end of the summer. 

It’s not fancy, nor would they have wanted it that way. They get to be with the people they love, and that’s all they need. 

Ben reaches over her shoulder to help cut the cake while everyone cheers, and they both grin from ear to ear. Just before they finish the first cut, he tells Rey for what must be the thousandth time, “I love you.”

**Author's Note:**

> CW: Sexual mentions/humor, hospitals, car accident, infertility, alcohol
> 
> Thanks for reading! I hope you're doing well right now, or that this fic made your day a little better. I'd love to hear your feedback, and please leave kudos!!


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